AN 


ORATION, 


DELIVERED  ON  THE  22d  OF  FEBRUARY,  1815, 


WASHINGTON  HALL, 


IN  THE  CITY  OF  NEW-YORK, 


BEFORE, 


THE   HAMILTON   SOCIETY, 


BY  DAVID  RAYMOND. 


NEW-YORK : 

PUBLISHED  BY  A.  T.  GOODRICH,  NO.  124,  BROADWAY. 

J.  Seymour,  printer. 

1813. 


"HARMONY-HALL,  March  2,  1813. 
"  Resolved,  7  /m£  t/te  thanks  of  the  Society  be  pre 
sented  to  Mr,  David  Raymond,  for  his  excellent  Ora-, 
tion,  delivered  at  their  request,  on  the  anniversary  of 
our  beloved  Washington,  and  that  Messrs.  Hunting- 
ton,  Batlard,  and  Halsey,  be  appointed  a  Committee 
to  carry  this  resolution  into  effect,  and  to  request  a  copy 
for  the  press." 

(Extract  from  the  Minutes.) 

JL  HOLDEN,  Secy. 


ORATION, 

Sp. 


THIS  is  the  evening  of  Washington's  birth-day;  a 
day  dear  to  every  American  bosom.  May  it  never 
pass  by,  without  a  tribute  to  his  memory!  We  have 
this  day  heard  his  character  depicted  with  a  warmth 
of  feeling",  and  a  force  of  language,  inferior  only  to 
the  virtues  and  talents  on  which  they  dwelt*.  To 
attempt  the  same  subject,  would  only  be  to  diminish 
your  impressions.  I  have  therefore  taken  a  different 
course,  and  shall  venture  to  address  you  on  general 
topics. 

The  objects  for  which  the  Hamilton  Society  was 
formed,  are  not  such  as  we  would  wish  to  conceal. — - 
They  are  equally  honourable  and  useful.  It  was  not 
estaolished  as  a  political  engine.  It  was  intended  to 
have  no  direct  bearing  on  the  government  of  our 
country.  Its  objects  were,  to  spread  the  principles  of 
Washington  and  Hamilton  among  the  young  men  of 
our  city ;  and,  by  exciting  an  emulation  of  their  vir 
tues,  to  raise  up  others  who  would  be  worthy  to  fill 
their  places.  Noble  are  the  objects  we  have  in  view ! 
High  is  the  excellence  we  have  selected  for  imita 
tion  !  As  bearing  on  one  of  those  objects,  and  as 
calculated,  I  would  hope,  to  promote  it,  I  have  select- 


*  Alluding  to  the  Oration  delivered  in  the  morning,  before 
the  Washington  Society, 

;6 


ed.  for  the  subject  of  the  present  address, vthe  pursuits, 
character,  and  fortunes  of  the  States!  • --M-I.  To  treat 
the  subject  as  it  deserves,  would  require  a  volume : 
I  shall  be  able,  only  to  take  a  passing-  glance,  and 
make  a  few  cur  «>ry  observations. 

It  was  the  juaxim  of  Nouiantia,  that  her  only  bul- 
Vi'yrk  was  ii>6-  leasts  of  her  citizens.  At  a  time  when 
,  .  all  .cities -were  wailed,  she  had  no  walls  around  her, 
etrid  never  was  any  city  more  ably  defended.  What 
was  true  in  Numantia,  is  true  in  every  country  in  the 
world  :  there  is  no  effectual  defence  for  any  country, 
save  the  breasts  of  its  citizens.  But  courage  in  the 
day  of  battle,  is  only  part  of  the  great  apparatus  of 
means  necessary  to  preserve  the  liberty  of  a  country. 
The  heads  of  our  statesmen  are  of  as  much  greater 
consequence  than  the  hearts  of  our  soldiers,  as  the 
hand  which  sets  a  machine  in  motion,  is  of  more  ac 
count  than  the  machine  which  it  moves. 

The  political  virtues  and  talents  which  rise  to  dis 
tinction  in  the  effort  by  which  a  people  breaks  its  own 
chains,  and  redeems  itself  from  bondage,  are  the  life 
and  soul  of  the  liberty  which  such  a  people  procures. 
The  Greeks,  after  a  long  winter  of  oppression  and 
slavery,  were  declared  a  free  people,  by  the  Emperor 
Adrian — he  made  them  a  present  01  their  liberty  ;  but 
the  world  looked  in  vain,  to  see  them  awake  from  the 
slumber  of  three  centuries  to  rival  their  forefathers,  to 
act  over  again  the  pass  of  Thermopylae,  the  battle  of 
Marathon,  and  the  orations  of  Demosthenes.  The 
Lycurguses  and  Solons,  who  in  a  successful  contest  for 
liberty,  would  have  reached  an  ascendant,  and  acquir 
ed  an  influence,  such  as  might  perhaps  have  enabled 
them  to  revive  the  constitutions,  the  laws,  and  the 


manners  of  other  times,  remained  in  obscurity.  Had 
the  American  States,  like  the  Greeks,  received  their 
liberty  as  a  voluntary  boon ;  had  they  obtained  it  with 
out  a  struggle,  it  might  have  been — not  worth  receiv 
ing.  It  might  have  been  like  a  watch  in  the  hand  of 
a  savage,  precious  indeed,  but  useless  to  one  who  is 
unable  to  wind  up  its  springs.  Where  would  have 
been  the  commanding  talents  which  have  formed  us  a 
government,  which  have  decided  between  jarring  in 
terests,  and  appeased  factious  commotions ;  and  where 
the  weight  of  character,  which  was  the  last  stake  to 
play  in  favour  of  unpopular  but  essential  measures? 
The  war  which  procured  us  our  liberty,  made  it  valu 
able  to  us,  by  calling  forth  virtues  and  talents  which 
were  capable  of  controlling  and  directing  us  when  free. 

But  able  and  virtuous  statesmen  are  not  less  neces 
sary  now,  and  will  not  be  less  necessary  hereafter, 
than  they  were  at  the  eventful  close  of  our  revolution. 
No  political  contrivance  is  a  perpetual  motion ;  the 
same  powers  are  required  to  keep  it  in  operation, 
which  were  required  to  give  the  first  impulse.  I  can 
imagine  the  Genius  of  the  United  States  crowning 
with  his  hand  those  who  have  deserved  well  of  their 
country,  but  his  eye  is  directed  to  the  rising  genera 
tion. 

The  government  under  which  we  live  is  an  experi 
ment  in  politics  ;  and  it  has  been  thought  a  spectacle 
interesting  to  the  world,  to  see  how  a  people  perfectly 
free  would  manage  their  affairs.  Li  relation  to  a  go 
vernment  so  popular  as  ours,  we  may  be  allowed  to 
ask,  with  an  anxiety  bordering  oi<  fear,  where  are 
we  to  look  for  that  vast  amount  of  political  talents  and 
legislative  wisdom,  of  the  power  of  persuasion  and  the 


.      6 

authority  of  character,  which  will  be  necessary  to  its 
energetic  and  beneficial  administration? 

The  public  affairs  of  a  popular,  are  immeasurably 
more  complicated  in  their  nature  aiid  difficult  in  their 
management,  than  those  of  a  despotic,  government. 
This  arises  from  the  different  principles  on  which  they 
are  founded.  It  is  the  maxim  of  the  one,  that  the  peo 
ple  are  made  for  the  benefit  of  the  government ;  of  the 
other,  that  the  government  is  established  for  the  benefit 
of  the  people.  In  a  government  like  ours,  what  a  bo 
dy  of  civil  rights  to  be  preserved,  what  a  variety  of 
interests,  growing  out  of  the  commercial  enterprise  of 
a  free  people,  to  be  watched  over  and  proiect  ed  ! 
But  what,  on  the  other  hand,  are  civil  rights  in  a  despo 
tism  P  Search  for  them  in  the  code  of  French  con 
scriptions.  What  is  the  patronage  afforded  to  com 
merce  ?  Ask  the  modern  Attila,  who  has  resolved  to 
annihilate  this  Mother  of  wealth,  because  she  nurses 
a  spirit  of  liberty  dangerous  to  tyrants. 

In  despotic  governments,  also,  the  will  of  the  sove 
reign  is  law,  and  his  minister  has  nothing  to  do  but 
obey.  In  popular  governments,  the  exigencies  of  the 
state  are  not  only  to  be  provided  for,  but  the  very  sove 
reign  is  to  be  controlled  :  and  those  who  have  made  the 
experiment,  are  best  able  to  tell,  how  difficult  it  is  "  to 
rule  the  wilderness  of  free  minds."  In  such  a  go 
vernment  no  man  is  born  a  Statesman.  However 
great  his  powers  may  be  by  nature,  those  powers 
must  be  enlarged,  adorned,  and  perfected  by  art.  It 
has  been  said  of  the  orator,  nascitur  Poeta,  Orator  Jit, 
and  the  remark  may  be  applied  to  the  statesman,  who 
in  fact  is  only  a  more  accomplished  orator. 

Political  science  is  a  science  by  itself.  It  is  not 
embraced  in  the  studies  which  fit  us  tor  ordinary  pur- 


suits.  Considered  in  its  broadest  sense,  it  compre 
hends  history,  or  the  experience  of  past  ag%es,  legisla 
tion*  finance,  the  causes  of  internal  prosperity,  the 
mewis  of  external  defence,  public  law,  and  foreign 
relations.  Those  who  wish  to  learn  what  stores  of 
knowledge  are  necessary  to  expand  and  supply  the 
mind  of  the  statesman,  may  satisfy  their  curiosity  by 
examining  the  writings  and  speeches  of  Burke  and  the 
Pitts,  of  Hamilton  and  Ames.  To  become  master  of  a 
science  so  extensive,  requires  time,  labour,  and  study : 
it  affords  scope  for  the  exertions  of  all  the  powers  of 
the  most  powerful  minds. 

There  is  a  class  of  men  in  England  who  are  states 
men  by  profession,  and  who  devote  their  lives  to  po- 
Htical  studies  and  public  affairs.  The  profession  of 
law  may  be  considered  as  better  calculated  to  form  a 
statesman  than  any  other  profession  or  business,  on  ac 
count  of  the  studies  which  belong  to  it,  and  the  habits 
of  public  speaking  to  which  it  accustoms  its  members; 
but  the  English  will  not  acknowledge  that  a  lawyer, 
or  that  any  man  who  does  not  make  political  studies 
and  pursuits  the  business  of  life,  is  qualified  for  a 
statesman.  Erskine,  though  oi,e  of  the  profoundest 
lawyers  and  greatest  forensic  orators  who  ever  aston 
ished  and  charmed  the  world,  was  never  allowed  by 
the  English,  as  a  parliamentary  speaker  or  a  statesman, 
to  hold  rank  with  their  professional  politicians. 

The  less  complicated  nature  of  public  affairs  in  our 
own  country,  renders  such  an  exclusive  devotion  to 
political  studies  and  pursuits,  perhaps  unnecessary, 
We  must  admit,  however,  that  be  his  business  or  pro 
fession  what  it  may,  the  man  who  begins  his  political 
labours  early  in  life,  starts  with  the  fairest  prospects 


8 

of  usefulness  and  fame.  Parliamentary  eloquence 
differs  from  that  of  the  bar,  and  he  who  has  long  been 
formed  to  the  one,  will  seldom  reach  the  highest  ex 
cellence  in  the  other.  The  man  who  wishes  to  excel 
in  that  kind  of  public  speaking,  which  has  most 
•weight  in  deliberative  assemblies,  should  enter  the 
great  school  where  it  is  best  learned,  in  the  ardour  of 
youth,  and  before  his  habits  are  formed.  The  great 
orators  who  have  figured  in  the  English  parliament, 
have  begun  their  political  life  thus  early.  We  may 
all  of  us  remember  the  charge  of  Mr.  Walpole  against 
the  tirst  William  Pitt,  of  being  a  young  man,  and  the 
young  orator's  reply.  The  second  William  Pitt,  and 
Charles  Fox,  were  but  boys  when  they  entered  parlia 
ment. 

The  character,  also,  which  is  acquired  by  a  long  ac 
quaintance  with  the  public,  is  of  as  much  value  to  the 
Statesman,  as  the  talents  on  which  it  is  founded.  The 
character  of  the  illustrious  Washington,  was  the  great 
barrier  which  resisted  the  inundation  of  French  prin 
ciples  and  French  policy,  during  his  administration. 
It  is  curious  to  observe,  in  looking  into  our  history, 
how  carefully  our  patriots  managed  that  character, 
how  anxious  they  were,  never  to  hazard  its  influence 
\vhere  any  other  stake  would  answer,  and  to  reserve 
it  for  the  dernier  resource.  So  commanding  was  the 
character  of  Lord  Chatham,  that  his  word  ran  like  an 
electric  shock  through  the  British  empire.  Such  a 
character  is  not  the  acquisition  of  a  day.  It  is  difficult 
to  acquire  it  by  going  late  into  public  life,  or  by  oc 
casionally  entering  and  retiring  from  it.  Seldom  is 
it  acquired  but  by  a  long  course  oi  public  labours,  or 
the  devotion  of  a  whole  life. 


But  are  not  political  talents  dangerous  in  a  repub 
lic  ?  They  are  apt  to  be  ambitious,  and  ambition  has 
made  Caesars. 

Talents  are  power,  and  power  may  be  abused. 
Hence  it  is  impossible  to  look  upon  great  talents,  even 
in  the  abstract,  without  something  like  terror.  We 
are  ready  to  say,  what  would  be  the  consequence, 
should  the  possessor  of  this  mighty  mind,  like  the 
strong  man  of  the  Scriptures,  grasp  with  an  evil  hand, 
the  pillars  of  the  state?  But  a  moment's  reflection 
\vill  teach  us,  that  there  is  little  danger  to  liberty,  from 
the  talents  which  are  able,  and  the  ambition  which  as 
pires,  to  serve  the  public  in  a  civil  capacity.  Statesmen, 
have  ever  been  the  friends  of  liberty.  They  were 
Generals,  the  leaders  of  an  overgrown  military  pow 
er,  who  have  been  its  oppressors.  It  was  the  States 
men  of  Rome,  who  preserved  her  free  constitution  for 
so  many  centuries  ;  it  was  he  who  conquered  at  Phar- 
salia,  that  trampled  it  in  the  dust. 

Ambition,  as  usually  applied  to  the  statesman,  is  a 
word  which  appears  to  signify  much,  but  defines  no 
thing.  It  is  a  convenient  term  of  reproach,  which  im 
becility  or  malice  may  throw  out  with  impunity,  to 
sully  the  lustre  of  the  brightest  talents,  or  vilify  the 
motives  of  the  purest  patriotism.  But  are  not  states 
men  necessary  to  the  prosperity  and  liberty  of  a  coun 
try  ?  Why  then  should  service  in  the  cabinet  be  deem 
ed  less  honourable  and  meritorious,  than  on  the  ocean, 
or  in  the  field  P 

The  public  service,  in  a  civil  capacity,  ought  ever 
to  be  honourable ;  it  ought  to  be  honourable  to  seek  it — 
to  press  into  it,  Should  the  employments  of  the  States 
man,   on   the   contrary,   ever  become   disreputable 


16 

should  men  of  talents  and  character,  endeavour  rather 
to  avoid  than  to  obtain  them — mark  the  event  as 
an  omen  that  the  time  is  at  hand,  when  our  coun 
trymen,  like  the  modern  Greeks,  will  point  to  the  mo 
numents  of  former  greatness,  and  say — we  once  were 
free ! 

But  the  worst  and  most  dangerous  shape  in  which 
great  talents  can  appear  in  republics,  is  in  the  violence 
of  party  struggles ;  and  those  struggles  occupy  too 
much  of  the  time  of  their  Statesmen,  and  form  too 
great  a  part  of  their  political  history,  to  be  passed  over 
in  silence.  "W  here  the  aspirations  of  talents  and  am 
bition  are  left  free  as  air,  many  will  step  forward  emu 
lous  of  distinction.  Opinions  pertinaciously  adhered 
to,  and  violently  opposed,  will  be  the  result. 

Much  speculation  has  been  employed  on  party  spirit 
Hamilton  and  Ames  did  not  think  it  a  subject  beneath 
them.  It  is  indeed  a  subject  vitally  interesting  to  a 
free  people.  Some  have  contended,  that  party  spirit 
was  not  only  inevitable,  but  useful  in  a  republic  :  others, 
that  it  was  the  destroying  angel  of  free  constitutions, 
and  that  its  dreadful  energies  were  sufficiently  develop 
ed,  in  the  little  republics  of  Greece,  and  the  greater  re 
public  of  Rome.  That  difference  of  opinion  in  free 
governments  is  inevitable,  will  not  be  denied ;  and  it 
is  vain  to  conjecture  the  consequences  of  a  state  of 
things  which  cannot  exist.  It  is  peopling  Plato's  Re 
public  or  Moore's  Utopia.  The  only  question  can  be? 
whether  we  ought  to  throw  a  loose  reia  on  the  neck 
of  this  wild  passion,  and  leave  it  to  the  fury  of  its  own 
phrenzied  career,  or  to  endeavour  to  check  its  fierce 
ness  and  allay  its  fire  ? 

It  is  true,  that  free  discussion  and  difference  of 


opinion,  render  a  people  vigilant  and  attentive  to  their 
rights,  and  raise  up  a  class  of  men  who  have  perspi 
cacity  to  see,  and  boldness  to  repel,  any  attempt  to  in 
vade  them.  Like  natural  fire,  if  party  spirit  be  watch 
ed  over  and  controlled,  there  can  be  little  doubt  of  its 
utility.  But  the  flame  which  burns  so  mildly  on  the 
hearth,  may  burst  forth  into  a  conflagration,  and 
spreading  its  sheeted  brightness  on  the  darkness  of 
night,  become  the  beacon  of  terror.  If.  we  could 
confine  the  strife  of  party  within  the  limits  of  fair  ar 
gument  ;  if  we  could  lay  down  laws  which  it  would 
not  dare  to  transgress,  what  is  the  worst  of  masters, 
might  become  a  useful  servant.  The  contest  of  par 
ties  would  then  resemble,  not  so  much  the  fights  of 
gladiators,  as  the  logical  disputes  of  the  schools ;  and 
the  champions  skilled  in  all  the  thrusts  and  parries  of 
the  forum,  would  cause  neither  anxiety  nor  alarm. — 
Other  contests  have  their  laws.  There  are  certain 
things  which  it  is  considered  disgraceful  to  do  in  war, 
and  which  are  therefore  never  done.  Even  the  rude 
and  plundering  clans,  who  formerly  lived  in  a  state 
of  constant  hostility  on  the  borders  of  England  and 
Scotland,  had  their  laws  of  honour,  which,  if  we  may 
believe  the  poet,  they  faithfully  observed  : 

"  His  buckler  scarce  in  breadth  a  span, 

No  larger  fence  had  he  ; 
He  never  counted  him  a  man 

Would  strike  below  the  knee." 

Dueling  too  has  its  laws ;  but  the  age  of  chivalry  is 
over,  and  he  who  shall  succeed  in  framing  a  code,  that 
shall  be  acknowledged  by  parties,  may  next  attempt 
the  hopeful  task  of  quieting  the  motion  of  the  tide. 
But  though  we  cannot  give  laws  to  party  spirit,  it 


12 

is  the  duty  of  every  friend  of  his  country,  to  endea 
vour  to  check  its  violence,  and  restrain  its  extrava 
gance  ;  to  endeavour  to  keep  it  within  the  fair  bounds 
of  controversial   argument.     The  attack   of  private 
character  should  be  discountenanced ;  the  slanderer,  of 
whatever  party,  should  be  pointed  out  to  be  avoided  ; 
the  exulting  delight  with  which,  like  the  Indian,  he 
tortures  his  victim,  should  have  its  true  name — the  ma 
lice  of  a  Daemon.    The  most  improbable  and  wicked 
motives  should  not  be  ascribed  to  actions  which  can 
be  grounded  on  any  other  hypothesis;  the  opponents, 
while  they    question  the   soundness  of  each    other's 
heads,  should  have  charity  for  each  other's  hearts ;  nor, 
however  great  the  object  to  be  accomplished,  should 
means  of  doubtful  morality  or  an  intemperate  charac 
ter  ever  be  resorted  to.     It  is  a  maxim  in  private  life, 
it  cannot  fail  in  public — do  your  duty,  and  leave  the 
consequences  to  God.     So  thought  the  patriots  of  the 
old  school — such  are  federal  principles.      And  we, 
my   young  friends,  who  are  soon  to  take  our  part, 
perhaps  a  humble,  perhaps  an  important  one,  in  this 
all-pervading  struggle,  let  us  resolve,  by  the  country 
which  we  love,  by  the  name  of  Washington,  whose 
last  precepts  we  revere,  that  as  we  would  never  poison 
our  enemy's  springs,  or  treacherously  assassinate  his 
person  in  war;  so,  in  civil  contentions,  we  will  use  no 
other  weapon  than  fair  and  honourable  argument. 

If  there  are  any  who  doubt  the  dreadful  effects  of 
unrestrained  and  licentious  party  spirit,  let  them  read 
over  again  the  legacy  of  Washington  ;  let  them  also 
cast  a  glance  over  the  page  of  history,  and  pause  a 
moment  on  the  parties  which  have  torn  and  distract 
ed  other  countries,  in  different  ages  of  the  world. — 


13 

Passing  over  a  long  list  which  might  well  be  adduced, 
let  me  point  them  to  the  struggles  of  the  Patricians 
and  Plebeans  at  Rome,  especially  to  the  factions  of 
the  Gracchi ;  and  in  England,  to  the  contests  of  the  Red 
Rose  and  the  White,  the  Parliament  and  Charles  the 
1st.  These  examples,  it  may  be  said,  are  not  applica 
ble  to  our  situation,  and  the  circumstances  of  the 
times  ;  but  they  will  all  combine  to  teach  us,  what  cala 
mities  impend,  especially  in  popular  governments, 
when  parties  resolve  to  accomplish  their  purposes  at  all 
events,  and  prudential  maxims  are  disregarded ;  when 
difference  becomes  hatred,  and  opposition  turns  to 
hostility. 

These  examples  will  also  teach  us  a  lesson  of 
charity.  In  all  these  parties,  and  on  every  side, 
amidst  a  great  deal  of  vice  and  folly,  there  was  also 
a  great  deal  of  virtue  and  talent  engaged,  much 
of  genuine  patriotism  exhibited,  and  instances  of 
magnanimity  and  true  greatness,  which  the  world  will 
never  cease  to  admire.  How  must  we  lament  that 
human  virtue  should  be  so  much  exposed  to  err  by  its 
own  generous  enthusiasm  ! 

A  review  of  parties  will  also  teach  us  another  les 
son  ;  to  dare  to  think  for  ourselves,  to  dare  to  question 
even  the  measures  of  our  own  party ;  and  if  we  ti nd 
that  party  going  wrong,  to  stand  apart  like  Abcliel 
from  the  rebelling  angels. 

It  will  be  asked,  perhaps,  whether  I  wish  to  render 
the  statesman  wavering,  and  to  shake  his  confluence 
in  his  owu  opinion,  by  representations  like  these;  that 
other  men  think  differently,  that  there  is  positive  proof 
on  neither  side,  and  that  they  have  as  good  a  claim  to 
be  right  as  himsejf  ?  I  readily  reply,  that  no  man  is 


14 

tit  for  a  Statesman,  \vlio  has  not  great  decision  of  cha 
racter;  bul  if  he  has  the  milder  virtues,  and  the  inte 
grity,  together  with  the  decision  and  even  enthusiasm 
of  Hamilton,  we  need  apprehend  no  danger.  The 
field  of  fair  argument  is  open,  let  him  enter  it.  Far 
be  it  from  me  to  wish  that  mind  unsettled,  whose  de 
terminations,  in  the  words  of  Foster,  take  rank  with 
the  great  laws  of  nature.  Without  such  minds  and 
such  decision,  there  would  nothing  great  or  good  be 
accomplished  on  earth.  The  majestic  river  which 
rolls  by  our  city,  and  bears  on  its  bosom  the  commerce 
of  a  hundred  villages,  does  not  change  its  bed  as  eve 
ry  ingenious  speculator  can  prove  would  be  best.  It 
rolls  on  with  an  irresistible  current,  and  sets  human 
power  at  defiance.  Thus  may  it  roll!  It  is  use 
ful,  because  its  course  continues  the  same  from  age  to 
age. 

The  history  of  politics  in  a  free  country,  is  the  his 
tory  of  the  human  mind.  I  do  not  mean  a  chronolo 
gical  table  of  measures,  but  the  machinery  by  which 
those  measures  are  brought  about.  There  we  see  ex^ 
erted  all  the  passions  and  energies  of  the  soul,  all 
the  enthusiasm  of  patriotic  feeling,  all  the  ingenuity 
of  contrivance,  the  exultation  of  success,  and  the  rage 
of  disappointment. 

In  England,  whose  politics  so  much  resemble  our 
own,  the  contemplation  of  this  contest  of  talents  is 
the  more  grand,  as  the  measures  of  that  country  con 
cern  objects  and  designs  of  the  highest  possible  mag 
nitude.  Her  navy,  her  wars,  her  foreign  possessions, 
(holding  in  her  hands  the  destinies  of  more  than  fifty 
millions  of  people,  besides  her  own  subjects,)  her  debt 
•and  her  taxes,  afford  scope  for  the  most  extensive 


Ie3 

views,  the  greatest  difference  of  opinion,  the  highest 
exertions  of  intellect,  and  the  boldest  flights  of  elo 
quence.  But  in  that  country,  as  in  this,  there  have 
been  times  when  politics  have  called  the  energies  of 
the  human  mind  into  unusual  action.  Such  was  the 
time  immortalized  by  the  letters  of  Junius ;  such  was 
the  time  when  Burke  opposed  the  contagion  of  French 
principles;  and,  in  our  own  country,  such  was  the  fa 
mous  sera  of  the  British  treaty.  From  such  a  state 
of  convulsive  energy,  the  political,  like  the  human  bo 
dy,  sinks  to  relaxation  and  rest. 

Let  me  now  call  your  attention  to  the  remaining 
part  of  my  subject — to  some  of  the  most  striking  fea 
tures  in  the  character  and  fortunes  of  the  statesman, 
In  attempting  to  delineate  them,  I  shall  have  in  view, 
not  a  man  who  may  sometimes  go  into  congress,  and 
whose  political  career  may  be  considered  a  deviation* 
from  his  ordinary  course,  but  one  who  devotes  the 
whole  or  the  greater  part  of  life  to  the  public.  Not  a 
man  who  intends  to  sail  with  the  stream,  but  one 
who  resolves  to  pursue  the  welfare  of  his  country,  right 
on,  against  odds,  opposition,  and  peril.  Not  a  man 
of  ordinary  abilities,  or  whose  greatest  effort  is  his 
vote  ;  but  one  of  such  commanding  talents,  that  like  a 
comet,  whatever  course  he  may  take,  he  will  shed  lus 
tre  on  his  path. 

Such  a  man  will  usually  possess  no  ordinary  "  mea 
sure  of  passion"  in  the  constitution  of  his  mind. 
There  have  been  statesmen  of  a  cold  temperament., 
and  there  may  be  again,  but  those  wrho  have  been  most 
distinguished  in  popular  governments,  have  possessed 
an  ardour  of  mind  and  a  zeal  of  pursuit,  which  may 
justly  be  called  enthusiasm.  They  hare  entered  with 


their  whole  soul  into  public  affairs,  and  put  forth  the 
utmost  of  their  powers  for  the  accomplishment  of  their 
object,  whatever  at  any  particular  juncture  it  might  be. 
At  the  same  time  they  viewed  that  object,  not  perhaps 
like  other  men,  but  through  a  medium  which,  by  show 
ing  its  relations  and  dependencies,  magnified  all  its  di 
mensions.  Thus  seen,  it  justified,  and  iu  their  opin 
ion  demanded,  a  perseverance  no  less  than  indefatiga 
ble,  and  exertions  almost  super-human.  An  ordinary 
man  might  regard  them  with  wonder.  He  does  not 
perceive  the  extreme  importance  of  a  particular  mea 
sure,  and  he  will  say  perhaps,  with  a  sneer,  should 
this  boasted  measure  fail  to  be  adopted,  for  aught  that 
I  can  discover,  things  will  go  on  in  their  ordinary 
course,  and  the  earth  continue  its  diurnal  motion. 

1  should  say  of  such  a  man  as  I  am  attempting  to 
describe,  on  seeing  him  just  entering  into  public  life, 
there  is  one  pain  which  I  am  sure  he  will  encounter — 
the  pain  of  disappointment.  He  will  probably  pos* 
sess  a  self-confiding  mind,  and  a  full  persuasion  of  the 
adequacy  of  his  powers  to  the  accomplishment  of  his 
designs.  Mankind,  he  says,  are  reasonable  beings ; 
and  I  can  render  the  policy  of  the  measures  I  propose 
so  demonstrably  evident,  that  they  cannot  fail  to  be 
adopted.  Let  him  go  on!  He  will  find,  ere  long, 
that  mankind,  though  they  intend  in  the  main  to  do 
right,  are  blinded  by  passion,  and  misled  by  ignorance. 
Melancthon  thought  as  he  does;  but  he  soon  found 
that  "  old  Adam  was  too  strong  for  young  Melanc 
thon."  Let  him  go  on !  Were  he  fully  persuaded,  at 
his  setting  out,  of  all  the  obstacles  he  has  to  encoun 
ter,  and  all  the  chances  there  are  against  his  final  suc 
cess,  he  would  probably  never  make  a  single  gene- 


17 

rous  effort.  If  we  take  but  a  passing  glance  at  the  his 
tory  of  politics,  we  shall  not  be  at  a  loss  for  instances 
of  the  greatest  talents  labouring  in  a  good  cause,  and 
labouring  in  vain.  The  history  of  our  own  country, 
for  the  last  twelve  years,  would  afford  them  in  abun 
dance.  When  Lord  Chatham,  with  the  prophetic  eye 
of  a  statesman,  saw  all  the  evils  of  the  unjust  war  wa 
ged  by  Great-Britain  against  her  American  colonies, 
how  must  he  have  wondered  at  the  bigoted  blindness 
of  his  opponents! 

The  statesman  may  also  expect  to  be  poor.  This 
honourable  distinction  is  not  confined  to  Poets ;  and 
the  causes  which  lead  to  it  in  the  statesman,  are  nei 
ther  remote  nor  doubtful.  It  is  not  in  human  na 
ture  to  give  a  divided  mind  to  objects  capable  of 
possessing  and  filling  the  whole ;  and  the  man  who  is 
accustomed  to  contemplate  things  on  a  grand  scale, 
and  is  labouring  to  accomplish  grand  designs,  will 
feel  little  interest  in  ordinary  pursuits,  and  the  care  of 
his  private  fortune.  How  shall  he,  who  proposes  to 
himself  the  magnificent  idea  of  making  a  nation  hap 
py  ;  who  busies  his  thoughts  not  with  acres,  but  with 
states ;  not  with  a  ship,  but  with  navies ;  not  with  a 
warehouse,  but  with  cities — leave  his  grand  contempla 
tions,  forsake  the  heaven  of  his  own  thoughts,  and  join, 
in  the  crowd,  and  follow  the  trifles  of  those  little  be 
ings,  over  \\hom  he  seemed  to  himself  to  preside  as  a 
guardian  Genius?  For  such  a  man  to  retire  from  his 
public  contemplations  to  the  care  of  his  private  proper 
ty,  is  like  looking  for  the  farm  of  Alcibiades  on  the  map 
of  Greece.  W  e  cannot  wonder  then  that  Burke,  in  his 
old  age,  should  have  needed  a  pension — that  William 
Pitt  should  have  died  insolvent, — nor  that  our  own 

3 


18 

Hamilton,  whose  thoughts  were  his  country's,  from 
his  early  youth  to  his  grave,  should  have  left  a  widow 
to  ask  the  half-pay,  which  he  had  over-generously  re^ 
fused. 

Date  obolum  Belisario,  has  often  come  from  a  man 
in  the  evening  of  life,  whose  strength,  and  whose  best 
days,  were  spent  in  the  service  of  his  country  ;  whose 
voice  senates  have  listened  to  catch,  or  armies  have, 
heard  and  obeyed, 

We  are  apt  to  consider  the  affection  which  some 
men  have  felt  for  their  country,  as  a  strange  pheno 
menon;  and  there  are  instances  of  individual  patriotism 
•which  almost  surpass  belief.  But  the  causes  of  this 
affection,  as  far  as  they  are  to  be  sought  for  beyond  an 
innate  greatness  of  soul,  are  not,  I  should  apprehend, 
deeply  hidden  in  our  nature.  Let  the  mother  seek  for 
them  in  the  affection  which  she  feels  for  her  child ;  let, 
the  man  of  business  seek  for  them  in  the  attachment 
which  he  feels  to  an  amount  of  property,  far  beyond  the 
gratification  of  his  wants  and  wishes.  The  Statesman 
loves  his  country,  because  he  has  watched  over  it — be 
cause  he  has  laboured  for  it.  Those  who  have  taken  no 
part  in  public  life,  who  have  not  thought  and  laboured 
for  their  country,  may  thus,  in  a  measure,  appreciate 
the  feelings  of  such  patriots  as  Washington  and  Ha 
milton,  and  almost  realize  how  much  better  they  loved 
their  country,  than  they  loved  themselves.  William, 
JPitt,  the  late  minister  of  Great-Britain,  whose  name  is 
worthy  to  be  enrolled  with  theirs,  seemed  to  have  lost 
his  own  identity  in  his  devolion  to  the  public;  even  in 
the  moment  of  death,  he  thought  not  of  himself,  andi 
spent  his  last  breath  in  exclaiming,  "  O  my  country  !'* 
— "  O  save  my  country  !"  was  the  dying  ejaculation  of 
Ames. 


19 

Members  of  the  Hamilton  Society !  Possessing  as 
you  do,  all  the  ingenuous  ardour  of  youth,  you  will  re 
gard  the  patriotism  which  I  have  just  been  describing, 
only  with  feelings  of  the  highest  admiration.  Yon 
will  perhaps  carry  back  your  thoughts  to  the  Repub 
lics  of  other  times,  among  whom  children  were  con 
sidered  the  property  of  their  country,  and  whose  poets 
sung, 

Dulce  et  decorum  est  pro  patria  mori. 

If,  while  you  admire,  you  should  resolve  to  imitate* 
do  it  without  expecting  to  be  rewarded.  It  is  virtue 
-which  is  seldom  rewarded,  except  by  the  sublimity  of 
its  own  feeling.  Few  great  men,  like  Washington* 
have  had  the  full  merit  of  their  actions  acknowledged 
while  they  were  alive.  The  actions  of  patriots  and 
statesmen,  like  the  productions  of  genius,  require  time 
to  test  their  worth,  and  establish  their  character* 
Aristides*  who  was  banished,  and  Socrates,  who  was 
put  to  death,  are  but  single  instances,  among  thou 
sands,  of  the  patriot  and  philanthropist,  who  have 
been  persecuted  when  living,  and  almost  canonized 
when  dead.  The  statesman  who  devotes  his  life  to 
the  service  of  his  country,  must  expect  that  his  motives 
will  be  misrepresented,  and  his  conduct  misunder 
stood;  that  his  character  will  labour  under  the  foulest 
reproaches,  and  that  his  virtues  will  never  be  generally 
acknowledged,  till  posterity  writes  them  on  his  monu 
ment. 

In  ordinary  times,  the  life  of  the  Statesman  will  not 
be  in  danger  ;  but  there  are  times  when  lie  must  "  set 
honour  in  one  eye,  and  death  in  the  other."  Such 
-was  the  time  when  our  own  Statesmen  proclaimed  to 


20 

the  world,  "  we  are  free  and  independent;"  such  was 
the  time  when  Hampden  withstood  the  arbitrary  mea 
sures  of  Charles  the  1st ;  and  such  the  time  when 
Russel  fell  the  martyr  of  his  attachment  to  the  reli 
gion  and  constitution  of  his  country — times  which  so 
often  occur  in  the  history  of  England,  that  we  be 
come  callous  to  the  suffering's  of  the  great,  and  have 
not  a  tear  to  give  to  every  illustrious  victim  of  the 
block. 

But  danger  ennobles  and  exalts  human  actions.  To 
despise  it,  is  magnanimity  and  heroism.  Hull,  Deca- 
tur,  Jones,  and  Bainbridge,  who  have  waved  our  flag 
in  triumph  on  the  ocean,  and  bid  the  world  admire  the 
symbol  of  our  union  and  glory,  would  have  been  be 
held  by  us  as  common  men,  had  they  not  stood  in  the 
fore-front  of  danger.  Hence  it  is  that  those  who 
stood  forth  to  assert  their  country's  rights,  in  "  times 
that  tried  men's  souls,"  are  regarded  by  us  as  almost  a 
superior  order  of  beings.  The  Statesman,  who  looks 
forward  to  a  lasting  fame,  should  not  consider  the 
.hazard  of  his  life  a  misfortune. 

I  shall  be  accused,  perhaps,  of  having  taken  a  de 
sultory  range,  and  imagined  extreme  cases ;  but  it  is 
useful  to  those  who  expect  hereafter  to  become  States 
men,  (if  there  are  any  such  who  hear  me,)  to  be 
taught  all  the  possible  dangers  of  the  way,  that  they 
may  arm  themselves  against  them,  that  they  may  pos 
sess,  their  minds  with  the  magnanimity  of  the  great 
Pompey,  who  said,  when  embarking  on  a  sea  not 
more  tempestuous,  "  it  is  my  duty  to  go — it  is  not  my 
duty  to  live." 

But  there  are  pleasures,  as  well  as  privations  and 
sufferings,  incident  to  the  life  of  the  Statesman;  and 


21 

some  of  these  are  the  most  sublime  which  we  can  sup 
pose  a  human  being  capable  of  enjoying.  They 
arise,  not  from  any  selfish  considerations — from  no 
private  advantage.  These  he  gives  up,  when  like 
Hercules,  he  starts  on  his  labours.  His  pleasures 
must  have  a  nobler  source — the  public  happiness.  He 
must  find  them  reflected  in  the  general  prosperity.  It 
is  the  happy  lot  of  few  Statesmen,  to  see  the  manifest 
effects  of  their  own  individual  labours.  Every  breath 
stirs  the  surface  of  the  ocean  ;  but  it  must  be  a  tem 
pest  indeed,  which  moves  the  whole  of  that  vast  col 
lection  of  waters.  But  there  are  peculiar  junctures, 
there  are  fortunate  opportunities,  when  the  Statesmaa 
may  feel  that  he  is  the  author  of  a  benefit  which  comes 
home  to  the  bosoms  of  the  public  at  large. 

Such  was  the  opportunity  which  the  formation  of 
our  present  system  of  government  afforded — when 
Hamilton  stript  himself  like  an  Athlete  to  the  com 
bat,  and  stood  forth  the  champion  of  the  New  Consti 
tution.  He  wrote,  he  extemporized,  he  laboured.-*- 
But  when  the  constitution  was  adopted,  when  his  la 
bours  were  accomplished,  those  who  can  measure  the 
mind  of  Hamilton,  may  conceive  the  rapture  he  felt, 
as  he  looked  forward  to  the  happiness  of  millions^ 
which  he  believed  that  that  constitution  would  se 
cure. 

Another  such  opportunity,  was  that  possessed  by 
Jay  in  the  formation  of  the  British  Treaty,  when  he 
opened  all  the  avenues  of  commerce  to  the  expecting 
enterprise  of  his  countrymen.  What  must  have  been 
his  feelings,  as  he  returned  with  that  treaty  in  his 
hand,  forming  as  it  does  an  sera  in  our  prosperity— 
what  must  have  been  his  feelings,  as  he  looked  through 


successive  years,  had  he  not  been  met  by  the  curse  of 
ingratitude  on  the  shore  ! 

But,  Washing-ton!  What  language  can  describe 
him — what  mind  can  rise  to  the  sublimity  of  his  sensa 
tions — when,  after  all  his  dangers  in  the  field,  and  his 
labours  in  the  cabinet,  he  finished  his  administration  ; 
when  he  bade  his  country  adieu,  and  left  that  country 
happy  ! 

To  stand  at  the  head  of  affairs  during  a  defensive, 
or  justifiable  and  necessary  war,  to  direct  all  its  ope 
rations,  and  conduct  it  to  a  happy  termination,  may 
be  considered  among  the  brightest  fortunes  of  the 
Statesman.  Such  was  the  fortune  of  Lord  Chatham 
in  the  war  between  England  and  France,  memorable, 
by  the  fall  of  Wolfe  on  the  heights  of  Abraham.  He 
had  none  with  whom  to  divide  the  glory  of  success. 
Amidst  all  who  surrounded  him,  he  stood  pre-eminent 
ly  great,  and  his  was  a  greatness  which  the  world  may 
continue  long  without  witnessing  again.  In  the 
words  of  his  eulogist,  "  France  sunk  beneath  him  ; 
with  one  hand  he  smote  the  house  of  Bourbon,  and 
wielded  in  the  other  the  democracy  of  England.'* 

But  what  shall  we  say  of  the  Statesman  who  pre 
cipitates  his  country  into  an  unnecessary  and  invasive 
war  ?  Who  will  envy  him  his  victories,  should  he 
chance  to  acquire  them  ?  The  waste  of  human  hap 
piness  and  comfort,  the  destruction  of  the  laboured 
products  of  human  industry  and  genius,  the  burning 
of  cities,  the  desolation  of  a  cultivated  interior,  and 
the  sacrifice  of  thousands  of  human  beings,  who  ne 
ver  injured  him  or  his  country,  who  never  knew  him 
but  by  the  terror  of  his  name — -without  necessity  to 
cause  such  evils,  and  to  enjoy  victories  thus  purchased, 


23 

does  not  belong  to  feelings  merely  human.  Such  was 
the  enjoyment  which  the  Enemy  of  all  good  experi 
enced,  when  he  retired  from  the  garden  of  Eden, 
after  having  achieved  the  ruin  of  mankind. 

A  country  safe  from  foreign  attack,  every  hand 
busy,  and  every  eye  lighted  with  pleasure,  rich  in  ci 
ties  and  the  fruits  of  cultivation — such  is  the  picture 
which  the  benevolent  Statesman  will  ever  keep  in  his 
view.  It  makes  no  figure  on  the  page  of  history ;  but 
history  is  written  to  record  the  miseries,  not  the  hap 
piness,  of  mankind, 

But  there  are  occasions  when  the  Statesman  may  be 
more  than  a  patriot — when  he  may  stand  forth  the 
friend  and  champion  of  the  human  race.  I  cannot 
pass  over  in  silence  the  struggle  in  favour  of  oppress 
ed  humanity,  which  has  been  carried  pn  for  a  great 
length  of  time  in  England,  against  numbers,  wealth, 
and  influence.  I  refer  to  the  abolition  of  the  Slave 
Trade.  The  great  Statesmen  of  that  country,  how 
ever  much  they  might  differ  on  other  subjects,  were 
united,  to  a  man,  on  this;  and  if  .active  philanthropy 
affords  the  highest  of  human  pleasures — "  they  have 
their  reward." 

To  conquer  rival  States,  has  been  considered  the 
summit  of  human  greatness,  and  those  who  have 
achieved  it,  have  received  the  praises  of  poets,  and 
the  honours  of  nations.  They  have  been  called  Pa 
triots  and  Heroes ; — but  let  us  ever  remember,  that  to 
destroy  the  happiness  of  mankind,  is  but  execrable  dis 
tinction  ;  and  that  there  is  nothing  truly  great  and  god 
like  on  earth,  but  to  do  good. 

FINIS. 


. , 


T 


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